A campaign launched last week in the Crow by a journalist calling for the end to an agonising medical procedure has gathered global recognition.

Kath Sansom, along with 12 other mums, including one from Royston, is calling on the end to the TVT Mesh operation to combat stress incontinence in women.

The operation – which involves putting a mesh tape made of the same plastic in drinks bottles under the urethra to keep it in place – caused her constant agony.

The 47-year-old said that since the article about her Sling The Mesh campaign, her blog has been viewed thousands of times across the world and she has been interviewed by America’s leading mesh journalist Jane Akre, who became famous for a whistleblowing lawsuit against Fox Broadcasting Company.

Kath said: “I am overwhelmed and really excited to see how Sling The Mesh has taken off.

“I hope this will be the final push needed to make governments globally wake up and smell the coffee. This procedure when it goes wrong has maimed thousands of women around the world. The risks need properly explaining and essentially it needs banning.”

North East Herts MP Sir Oliver Heald has written to Jeremy Hunt about the campaign as he said it is ‘clearly an important issue.’

Anne Cook from Royston last week spoke out about how the mesh caused her extreme stomach cramps, pain down her legs and constant urinary tract infections.

Since opening up she said she has been stopped in the street by people congratulating her on the campaign.

The 60-year-old said: “I was really worried about speaking out initially as it’s an ‘embarrassing’ but really common problem to have which normally you tend to keep to yourself.

“But because of all the problems I had with this ‘simple and quick’ operation and the years of pain and three more operations, I wanted to talk about it openly.

“I was made to feel my situation was unusual before realising there are thousands of women suffering around the world. It’s important that people get a second opinion before having this operation done.”

To visit the blog, go to slingthemesh.wordpress.com.